The present invention relates to a viewing device that impairs a wearer's visual faculties thereby simulating the impairing effect of an intoxicant. In particular, the invention, which is compatible with existing viewing devices that simulate impairment, subtly restricts the wearer's peripheral vision. The invention also simulates reduced peripheral vision associated with other conditions and situations such as drowsiness and excessive driving speed.
Substantial effort is undertaken by educators, law enforcement personnel, safety promoting organizations, and the like to convince people, particularly young people, of the hazards associated with being under the influence of intoxicants such as alcohol, legal, and illegal drugs. Impairment has particular ramifications in many situations, including simple tasks such as walking to more complex tasks such as operating a motor vehicle. It is particularly challenging to provide a meaningful firsthand experience of the impairing effects of an intoxicant, insofar as one typically cannot induce impairment in a subject with the intoxicant and, even if one could, it would be improper to then ask the subject to operate a motor vehicle while impaired.
Therefore devices that simulate the effects of impairment on a subject under the influence of an intoxicant are frequently employed in safety education programs and in other settings. FATAL VISION goggles (Innocorp, Ltd., Verona, Wis.) include one or more vision-distorting Fresnel lenses in the wearer's field of view. Inncorp, Ltd. has developed and marketed various models of such goggles which simulate various levels of impairment (i.e., blood alcohol concentration) and various conditions (e.g., day or night), for use in safety education programs.
Law enforcement officials understand that when blood alcohol concentration is very high, intoxicated individuals exhibit markedly reduced peripheral vision. This phenomenon, commonly referred to as tunnel vision, may go unappreciated by the intoxicated individual. What is therefore desired in the art is a viewing device that simulates reduced peripheral vision of a subject under the influence of an intoxicant or having another peripheral vision-reducing condition that can readily be employed in a controlled setting so as to not put the subject at risk. It is also desirable to provide a viewing device that can be used with other devices to effectively simulate other effects of intoxication, such as distorted vision.